Fact Sheet: President Donald J.
Trump Imposes Tariffs on Imports from Canada,
Mexico, and China
ADDRESSING AN EMERGENCY SITUATION: The extraordinary threat posed by
illegal aliens and drugs, including deadly fentanyl, constitutes a national emergency
under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
• Until the crisis is alleviated, President Donald J. Trump is implementing a 25%
additional tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico and a 10% additional tariff
on imports from China. Energy resources from Canada will have a lower 10%
tariff.
• President Trump is taking bold action to hold Mexico, Canada, and China
accountable to their promises of halting illegal immigration and stopping
poisonous fentanyl and other drugs from flowing into our country.
• The orders make clear that the flow of contraband drugs like fentanyl to the United
States, through illicit distribution networks, has created a national emergency,
including a public health crisis. Chinese officials have failed to take the actions
necessary to stem the flow of precursor chemicals to known criminal cartels and
shut down money laundering by transnational criminal organizations.
o In addition, the Mexican drug trafficking organizations have an intolerable
alliance with the government of Mexico. The government of Mexico has
afforded safe havens for the cartels to engage in the manufacturing and
transportation of dangerous narcotics, which collectively have led to the
overdose deaths of hundreds of thousands of American victims. This
alliance endangers the national security of the United States, and we must
eradicate the influence of these dangerous cartels.
o There is also a growing presence of Mexican cartels operating fentanyl and
nitazene synthesis labs in Canada. A recent study recognized Canada's
heightened domestic production of fentanyl, and its growing footprint
within international narcotics distribution
USING OUR LEVERAGE TO ENSURE AMERICANS’ SAFETY: Previous
Administrations failed to fully leverage America’s economic position as a tool to secure
our borders against illegal migration and combat the scourge of fentanyl, preferring to
let problems fester.
• Access to the American market is a privilege. The United States has one of the most
open economies in the world, and the lowest average tariff rates in the world.
• While trade accounts for 67% of Canada’s GDP, 73% of Mexico’s GDP, and 37%
of China’s GDP, it accounts for only 24% of U.S. GDP. However, in 2023 the U.S.
trade deficit in goods was the world’s largest at over $1 trillion.
• Tariffs are a powerful, proven source of leverage for protecting the national
interest. President Trump is using the tools at hand and taking decisive action that
puts Americans’ safety and our national security first.
• Though previous Administrations have failed to leverage America’s combination
of exceptional strength and its unique role in world trade to advance the security
interests of the American people, President Trump has not.
PRESIDENT TRUMP IS KEEPING HIS PROMISE TO STOP THE FLOOD OF
ILLEGAL ALIENS AND DRUGS: When voters overwhelmingly elected Donald J.
Trump as President, they gave him a mandate to seal the border. That is exactly what he
is doing.
• The Biden Administration’s policies have fueled the worst border crisis in U.S.
history.
o More than 10 million illegal aliens attempted to enter the United States
under Biden’s leadership, including a rising number of Chinese nationals
and people on the terror watchlist.
o This problem is not confined to the southern border – encounters at the
northern border with Canada are rising as well.
• The sustained influx of illegal aliens has profound consequences on every aspect
of our national life – overwhelming our schools, lowering our wages, reducing our
housing supply and raising rents, overcrowding our hospitals, draining our
welfare system, and causing crime.
• Gang members, smugglers, human traffickers, and illegal drugs and narcotics of
all kinds are pouring across our borders and into our communities.
o Last fiscal year, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) apprehended more
than 21,000 pounds of fentanyl at our borders, enough fentanyl to kill more
than 4 billion people.
o It is estimated that federal officials are only able to seize a fraction of the
fentanyl smuggled across the southern border.
• These drugs kill tens of thousands of Americans each year, including 75,000 deaths
per year attributed to fentanyl alone.
o More Americans are dying from fentanyl overdoses each year than the
number of American lives lost in the entirety of the Vietnam War.
BUILDING ON PAST SUCCESS: President Trump continues to demonstrate his
commitment to ensuring U.S. trade policy serves the national interest.
• As President Trump said in the Presidential Memorandum on American First
Trade Policy, trade policy is a critical component in national security.
• President Trump promised in November to “sign all necessary documents to
charge Mexico and Canada a 25% Tariff on ALL products coming into the United
States, and its ridiculous Open Borders. This Tariff will remain in effect until such
time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of
our Country!”
• During his first term as President of the United States, President Trump
established the President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the
Opioid Crisis and declared the Opioid Crisis a public health emergency.
• President Trump also has a long record of putting America first on trade. In his
first term, President Trump successfully used threats of tariffs on Mexico to help
secure our border.
• When our national security was threatened by a global oversupply of steel and
aluminum, President Trump took swift action to protect America’s national
security by implementing tariffs on imports of these goods.
• In response to China’s intellectual property theft, forced technology transfer, and
other unreasonable behavior, President Trump acted with conviction to impose
tariffs on imports from China, using that leverage to reach a historic bilateral
economic agreement.
• Just last week, President Trump leveraged tariffs to successfully resolve national
security concerns with Colombia, swiftly reaching an outcome that prioritizes the
safety and security of the American people and the sanctity of our national borders.
